Funny Farm

Goodness! I have been quite behind in my posts. I apologize for my absenteeism. Perhaps if I actually posted when I will update, I won't be so eager to say "I'll do it tomorrow."


Anyway, on to the comic.



Funny Farm
R. Smith
PG-ish
Suspense?



Funny Farm is about a couple of roommates, Ront (a dog) and Mewn (a cat), and the sometimes soap opera situations that they and their (many, many) other roommates get themselves into. I say soap opera, but not in the angsty sense. There are a lot of cliffhangers, and *gasp* moments.


Funny Farm is another comic I have picked up on in which most of the characters are humanimals. However, unlike Kevin and Kell there are humans in the world as well. I sometimes wonder about the logistics of a human dating, say, a cat person. I guess when I get in that mood I'm suffering from thinking too much when I should be suspending my disbelief.


The characterisation is my favorite part of Funny Farm. All of the characters grow over time, and become more interesting. And the story arcs are fun, especially those that are supposed to be suspenseful. There are a lot of "whodunit?" moments, and really wacky bad guys. But when there is a break in the big story arcs, the writing can be a little dull. Also, the punchline on many comics fall flat. In my opinion the writer would be better off avoiding one liners and focusing on the light humor that runs in the strip.


This is a long comic, an endurance comic, and the plot does take a while to pick up. But I think it is worth a read, it you're up to it.

Questionable Content

Questionable Content
Jeph Jacques
Real Life, sorta
PG-13

I am not indie. Nor am I emo. As far as I can tell the whole indie/emo movement is about wearing un-ironed preppy-ish clothes picked up at a thrift store and finding the most obscure, unheard of band on the market to listen to, then saying the names of the bands during a party to establish your "indie cred."

This is not my scene.

But reading a comic about a bunch of indie kids in their mid-twenties surrounded by a cast of goths, college girls, punk rockers and general crazies is definitely my scene.

Questionable Content began as a comic about a few friends, the main cast being Faye, Marten and Dora, that go about their daily lives in Massachusetts without much fanfare or drama. Actually, this is what first attracted me to the comic. The main characters feel like people you hang with every day. There is little angst, and when "drama" does happen it is subtle. Characters may go through life changing events, but there is this air that life will go on. You wouldn't believe how rare it is to find such a down to earth attitude in webcomics.

As the years have gone by, many other characters have been thrown into the mix. (My favorite is Hennalore, the OCD girl). The plot has also added a few elements of light sci-fi. No aliens or the like. More technological advances that we haven't seen yet, like talking PCs and combat robots. But the story is still about people and their interactions with each other.

There is only one complaint that I have with the comic. It takes a long time for the plot to move because almost every action of the characters is described (including bathroom breaks). And there is one warning for folks who are as musically inept as I am: there are quite a few jokes about indie bands that went right over my head, especially in the earlier comics. Other than that, the comic is a mellow, nifty read.